Bitcoin

Bitcoin Prices Whipsawed by Looming China Crackdown

"While the PBOC doesn't appear ready to ban Bitcoin outright, they appear determined to drive it out of the Chinese banking system. The Chinese government apparently was concerned over investor speculation in the digital currency, and in particular in the use of Bitcoin to move money outside the country. Once people started using Bitcoin to bypass China's strict capital controls, the government almost had no choice but to cut it off from the banking system. For China's Bitcoin exchanges, which include BTC China and OKCoin, the news is bad but not necessarily fatal. But longer term, this is just another pebble in the stream." Continue reading →

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Colombia Stops Short of Bitcoin Ban, Bars Banks From Industry

"Despite reports that the SFC could enact harsh restrictions on bitcoin – one report suggested it would go so far as to ban bitcoin transactions altogether, the SFC issued what amounted to a boilerplate warning to consumers, and blocked financial institutions from holding, investing in or brokering bitcoin transactions. The release indicated that bitcoin fails to meet the definition of a currency according to the criteria set forth by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as it is not backed by a central bank. Further, the SFC reiterated that digital currencies can be used for illicit means, including money laundering and terrorist financing." Continue reading →

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Federal Bank VP: Bitcoin Threat Means Banks Must ‘Adapt or Die’

"On 31st March, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis – one of the 12 Federal Reserve banks – held a talk on bitcoin from a banking and economic viewpoint. The session, entitled ‘Bitcoin and Beyond: The Possibilities and the Pitfalls of Virtual Currencies’, was presented by economist David Andolfatto, who is Vice President at the bank and a professor at Simon Fraser University. Andolfatto is sure that, ultimately, new systems will upend the monetary hierarchy of today – eventually forcing substantial changes within the banking and payments industry." Continue reading →

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Bank of Montreal CEO: Bank is open to Bitcoin, conditionally

"If it was reliable and if it was regulated, 'then there’s no reason why we couldn’t be an intermediary in bitcoin-related transactions,' Bill Downe said in an interview after the company’s annual general meeting in Toronto. 'Because, if you wanted a Swiss franc transaction or a Japanese yen transaction or a U.S. dollar transaction, we can do that transaction for you,' he said. 'If bitcoin [can be] a reliable medium of exchange, then at that point in the future, we would be able to [conduct business] with bitcoin.' So far, however, almost every major banking chief in North America has either stayed mum on, or openly derided, the currency. Canada’s banking watchdog said it does not regulate bitcoin." Continue reading →

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Europol: Police need powers to tackle virtual money laundering

"The head of the European Union's policing agency warned on Monday that virtual currencies such as Bitcoin were being used for money laundering and called for police to be given more powers to identify criminal suspects operating on the Internet. 'We're seeing that virtual currencies are being used as an instrument to facilitate crime, particularly in regard to the laundering of illicit profits,' said Europol head Rob Wainwright, speaking on the margins of a nuclear security conference in The Hague. Wainwright said police should be given new powers to allow them to identify anonymous participants online and bring them to justice." Continue reading →

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Bitcoins are like ‘glass beads’, warns Danish national bank

"The Danish national bank has released a briefing note firmly declaring bitcoin to not be money, noting that the currency is more like 'glass beads'. Denmark’s national bank is just the latest central bank to inveigh against bitcoin. In January, Malaysia’s central bank warned citizens that 'the Bitcoin is not recognised as legal tender in Malaysia… the public is therefore advised to be cautious of the risks.' In December 2013, the People’s Bank of China banned the country’s financial institutions from trading in the currency, shortly after the former president of the Dutch Central Bank said the currency’s boom was 'worse than the tulip mania'." Continue reading →

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Jeff Berwick: Bitcoin Is Equivalent to the Internet in 1993

"Perception of Bitcoin now is like of the Internet in 1993. Mt Gox, Tesla and the free market. US government pressuring foreign governments making it harder to get foreign citizenship. Staggering fraud in the banking sector and banker suicides. Crazy Keynsian thinking. Russia and China more free market than the West. Disaster brewing for the West. The move into precious metals stocks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJeff Berwick: Bitcoin Is Equivalent to the Internet in 1993

Massachusetts regulators warn about bitcoin as ATM opens

"Massachusetts regulators issued a strongly worded warning Tuesday about the risks of the virtual currency known as bitcoin after the opening of the second ATM-like kiosk in the Boston area that make it easier for people to buy it. On Monday, the second bitcoin ATM in Massachusetts — and apparently just the fourth in the country — opened at the Clover Food Lab restaurant in Harvard Square. The company that installed and operates the machine, Liberty Teller of Boston, placed its first kiosk at South Station in Boston in February. So far, a handful of Boston-area restaurants and retailers accept the currency, whose value is determined by supply and demand." Continue reading →

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